The Los Angeles Dodgers’ losing streak extended to three games on Friday with another disappointing showing against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first of an important four-game series.
The Dodgers nearly fought back from an early 5-0 deficit but ultimately fell short and dropped to eight games behind the Diamondbacks in the National League West standings.
Zack Greinke stymied the Los Angeles lineup, yielding just two earned runs over six innings while registering 10 strikeouts to one walk. The Dodgers, as a team, struck out 11 times on the night.
That was largely in part to home plate umpire Jerry Layne’s inconsistent strike zone, which left many hitters frustrated on both sides.
Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger, in particular, was negatively affected by Layne’s calls. He offered harsh words after the game, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“It’s tough. I was just talking to some pitchers, and even some pitchers don’t even like a zone that big because it’s not even fair. He knows he was brutal back there. But like I said, you can’t control that part of the game. You’ve just got to go and keep competing.”
Bellinger, in his first game back after being benched in the sixth inning on Sunday for not hustling, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also condemned Layne’s work behind home plate and believes Greinke was able to further take advantage of the additional calls that went his way:
“You never want to use the home-plate umpire, the zone, as an excuse but I did think there were some calls, you look back at the video, and it was a little too liberal. When you’re a pitcher like Zack Greinke and have his command, he’s going to exploit that. He figured that out early, that he was getting balls off the plate. As I looked back at the video, it’s pretty clear. He continued to do that and flipped a lot of counts. That’s a guy that doesn’t need a whole lot of help.”
The series continues on Tuesday as the Dodgers send their ace Clayton Kershaw to the mound, who looks to play stopper and guide the team back into the win column.
